THIS WEEK: North Dakota, the three-time defending Broadmoor Trophy champion, takes to the ice for the first time this season when it hosts Manitoba on Saturday in exhibition action.

Saturday's game marks the first of two exhibition tune-ups for UND, which will also host the U.S. Under-18 Team next Friday (Oct. 12).

This marks the first season UND will open with consecutive exhibition games since 1999-00, when the eventual NCAA champions defeated the Canadian National Team and Manitoba.

MEDIA COVERAGE: All UND men's hockey games, home and away, can be heard on 96.1 FM (The Fox) and on stations across the UND Hockey Radio Network. Please note that Saturday's exhibition opener will be heard only on 100.3 FM Cat Country and not on the network due to a scheduling conflict with UND football. Veteran broadcaster Tim Hennessy is in his 34th season as the voice of the men's hockey program. Steve Olson serves as color analyst for home games.Free audio is available at UNDSports.com.

Saturday's game, and all home games, can be seen on the Midco Sports Network and on Fox College Sports (Atlantic). The game will also be seen on DirecTV 626. Veteran broadcaster Dan Hammer calls the action, with analysis from former UND standout Scott Koberinski (1985-89).

Video webcasts of all home games can be purchased at UNDSports.com, where free live stats are also available.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive real-time updates during all UND men's hockey games by following
@UNDMHockey. Additional coverage can be found at @UNDSports and @UNDSID.

Fans can also follow the action via live chat at UNDSports.com, hosted by UND media relations director Jayson Hajdu and new media director Matt Schill.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-745-3000, by visiting the UND Ticket Office at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, or via TicketMaster TicketExchange. TicketExchange is the official online source for UND men's hockey season ticket holders to post their tickets for re-sale. Tickets can be purchased from season ticket holders online by visiting Ticketmaster.com/TicketExchange, and then clicking on "North Dakota" under College Athletics.

The UND Ticket Office at Ralph Engelstad Arena is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE BISONS: Manitoba opened Canada West play last week by suffering a pair of losses at the University of Alberta, falling 4-2 and 7-2.

Real Cyr and Kurtis Mucha each started one game between the pipes at Alberta.

Prior to being swept at Alberta, Manitoba had opened the year with a 3-1 non-conference record.

The Bisons, led by returning All-Canadians Blair Macaulay and Jeremy Schappert, were ranked No. 2 in the Canada West preseason coaches poll.

MSU COACHING STAFF: Head coach Mike Sirant is in his 17th year behind the Manitoba bench.

He is assisted by Brad Purdie, Brent Zelenewich and Riley Dudar.

RECENT SERIES HISTORY: North Dakota has hosted Manitoba in exhibition action to open the season in seven of Dave Hakstol's eight years as UND head coach.

UND has won all seven of those games, outscoring the Bisons 46-14.

POLL POSITION: UND is ranked No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason polls released over the past two weeks.

UND was ranked No. 3 in both the Inside College Hockey and College Hockey News preseason rankings.

See page 3 for complete poll information.

CONFERENCE CALL: In the preseason WCHA media poll released in September by 94X of Duluth, North Dakota was ranked No. 2 behind only defending regular season champion Minnesota:

UND forward Rocco Grimaldi (Fr., Rossmoor, Calif.) received the rare distinction of earning preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year honors for the second straight year. Grimaldi was the consensus choice for preseason rookie of the year last season before missing all but four games with a knee injury.

Grimaldi, who had one goal and one assist in those four games, retained his rookie status for 2012-13.

FARWELL SEASON: The 2012-13 season will be UND's last as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Beginning in 2013-14, UND will join the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), which will also consist of Denver, Colorado, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan.

Since joining the WCHA in 1959-60, UND leads the league in both regular season (15) and playoff (11) conference championships.

In 2011-12, UND made league history by becoming the first school to win three consecutive Broadmoor Trophies as WCHA Final Five champions.

CAPTAIN CRUNCH: Rugged senior defenseman Andrew MacWilliam (Calgary, Alberta) was elected team captain in a vote of his teammates earlier this fall.

Schmaltz was a first-round draft pick of St. Louis in June, while Gothberg was taken by Boston in the sixth round of the 2010 draft.

The junior transfer is goalie Clarke Saunders (Brockville, Ontario), who comes to UND after two seasons at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

Last season, Saunders posted a solid .906 save percentage and an NCAA-leading 34 saves per game for a UAH team that went 2-28-1.

FEELING A DRAFT: UND's 2012-13 roster features 14 National Hockey League draft picks, including 2012 1st-rounder Jordan Schmaltz (Verona, Wis.). The freshman defenseman was taken in the first round (25th overall) by the St. Louis Blues.

MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE?: UND advanced to the NCAA postseason tournament for the 10th consecutive season in 2011-12, the second-longest active streak in the NCAA behind only Michigan (22).

It was also the 27th all-time postseason appearance for UND. Head coach Dave Hakstol has now led the program to the NCAA tournament in each of his eight seasons behind the UND bench, including Frozen Four appearances in five of those eight years.

UND continued its playoff dominance under Hakstol, extending its record to is 42-15 in the playoffs (WCHA and NCAA combined) during his tenure, 16 more wins than any other WCHA team during that time.

ONE MORE BROADMOOR: In 2009-10, UND became only the second team in league history to win the Broadmoor Trophy by going 3-0 at the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul.
In 2010-11, UND repeated as champion, this time as the No. 1 seed, to become the WCHA's first repeat playoff champion since Minnesota in 2003 and 2004.

In 2011-12, UND outdid itself by becoming the first team in league history to capture the Broadmoor Trophy three years in a row as WCHA Final Five champions.

After sweeping Bemidji State during the first round of the WCHA Playoffs, UND downed St. Cloud State 4-1 in the WCHA Final Five quarterfinals to set up an epic tilt with rival and fourth-ranked Minnesota in the semifinal.

After trailing 3-0 during the second period, UND got on the board in the middle frame before exploding for five more unanswered goals in the third period of a stunning 6-3 victory.

It was all UND in the championship game, a 4-0 blanking of No. 9 Denver.

Finley, Genoway, Malone and Watkins each made their NHL debuts, while Greene led the Los Angeles Kings to a Stanley Cup championship, defeating Parise, Zajac and the New Jersey Devils in the finals.

NODAK NATION: Furthering the program's reputation as the top draw in men's college hockey, UND led the nation in three attendance categories in 2011-12.

North Dakota led the nation in total attendance (419,981) and average attendance (9,999.5) for all games -- which includes home, away and neutral -- and also led the country in total home attendance (249,501).

UND's average home attendance of 11,341 fans per game ranked second nationally behind only Wisconsin's 11,772.9.

UND played in front of two of the five largest crowds in program history when 12,065 turned out to watch a 1-1 overtime tie with Michigan Tech on Feb. 18, and 12,029 witnessed a 3-0 win over Minnesota State in the regular season finale on March 3. Those two crowds ranked as the fourth and fifth-largest in program history.

Ben Blood (D)
160 GP, 10 G, 38 A, 48 Pts.
2011-12 All-WCHA Third Team
2010-11 WCHA Final Five All-Tournament Team
Led NCAA with a +32 in 2010-11
Three-time All-WCHA Academic Team selection
Played in 142 straight games to end his career

Mario Lamoureux (F)
148 GP, 17 G, 29 A, 46 Pts.
2011-12 WCHA Final Five All-Tournament Team
Three-time WCHA All-Academic Team selection
Two-time recipient of team's Cliff "Fido" Purpur Award for "hard work, determination and being a creator of excitement on the ice"
Scored 10,000th goal in program history
Served as team captain as a senior in 2011-12

PRO FILES: Five members of the Fighting Sioux signed professional contracts following the season, three of whom immediately made their pro debuts.

Senior defenseman Ben Blood signed with the Ottawa Senators and made his pro debut with Binghamton of the AHL, while sophomore forward Brock Nelson inked with the New York Islanders and made his debut with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.

Senior captain Mario Lamoureux signed with the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL, appearing in two regular season games and four playoff games.

Senior goalie Brad Eidsness signed with the ECHL's Reading Royals, but did not appear in any games.

Over the summer, junior goalie Aaron Dell signed with the ECHL's Colorado Eagles.

ROARING 20s: With 26 victories in 2011-12, UND reached the 20-win plateau for the eighth time in as many seasons under head coach Dave Hakstol.

Only Gino Gasaprini, who won 20 games for 13 straight years from 1978 to 1991, had a longer streak of 20-plus wins at UND.

UND's 3-2 win at SCSU on Jan. 21 was the 200th career victory for Hakstol, enabling him to join Gasparini (392 wins, 1978-94) and Dean Blais (262 wins, 1994-2004) as the only UND coaches to reach that milestone.

Hakstol, Gasparini and Blais each won their 200th game in their eighth season. Hakstol played under Gasparini at UND, and was brought to the UND coaching staff as an assistant coach by Blais.